Shoulder pad and method of making same



1947- v E. P. ENDECOTT 2,425,233

SHOULDER PAD AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Nov; 4, 1945' INVENTORY fled/x7 P Evdeao/f 1 BY Patented Aug. 5, 1947 ZAZSQBi UNITED STATES PATENT QFFHCE SHOULDER PAD AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME 2 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of garment making and more specifically to shoulder pads, particularly adapted for use in womens coats, dresses and other similar articles of wearing apparel.

Shoulder pads for womens garments have heretofore taken various forms and shapes, the primary objection however, being a multiplicity of operating steps in their manufacture, causing a relatively expensive finished article. Furthermore, such shoulder pads of conventional character when completely finished, fail to conform to the shoulders of the wearer thereof, due primarily to the initial form of the cushion padding or filler facings thereof and the manner in which portions of the edges are stitched together.

The primary aim of this invention, therefore, is two-fold, namely, to provide a shoulder pad having a cushion shoulder casing or facing formed from an initially flat sheet of material in such manner as to present a finished article having a peculiar arcuate shape, capable of readily conforming to various shapes and sizes of the shoulders of the wearers thereof and secondly, to decrease the initial cost of manufacture through the elimination of one or more of the operating steps usually necessary in constructing such shoulder pads.

The most important aim of this invention is to provide a shoulder pad having a unitar body for encasing a cushion filler which body has a pair of substantially symmetrical sections that are folded to a position where the same are in superimposed relation and the edges thereof register, whereupon such edges are stitched to present a hollow container or facing for the filler and which, when so formed and stitched, present a unitary structure having an arcuate contour that will readily fit the shoulder of the wearer.

Another important object of this invention is to provide in a shoulder pad, having the aforesaid body and laterally extending legs, means for presenting such arcuate design through the medium of cutting the legs in a manner to have their marginal edges converge as the free ends thereof are approached and the innermost of such marginal edges curved inwardly toward the opposite edges thereof respectively, all to the end that a dish-shaped body is presented for receiving the cushion filler and prior to the final folding step which encases the filler and presents a completely assembled article through one stitching operation.

A still further object of this invention lies in the method of forming a shoulder pad which,

after forming the body thereof from an initially flat sheet of material, consists of the steps of stitching certain marginal edges of the legs thereof, inserting the filler, refolding the body to a registering position and the final stitching operation which embodies merely one step in the complete assembling process.

Other objects of this invention will be made clear or become apparent during the course of the following specification, referring to the accompanying drawings wherein;

Fig. l is a top plan view of the shoulder pad made in accordance with my present invention.

Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line III-III of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the body per se showing the same with the sections thereof in superimposed relation and certain overlapping relation of marginal edges thereof stitched; and

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the body, showing the same in the extended fiat condition prior to any folding or stitching operation.

Referring more specifically to the drawings and particularly Fig. 5, the numeral l 0 designates the body forming a part of the shoulder pad about to be described, which body is formed from an initially fiat sheet of material, usually comprising a form of fabric. However, the type of material used forms no part of this invention and it is contemplated that any soft flexible substance will suflice. This body It may b cut or otherwise stamped from a preformed die or pattern to present a pair of legs 12 and it, whereby a substantially U-shaped structure is produced. The innermost margina1 edges I6 and 18 of legs l2 and M respectively are each curved inwardly toward the outermost marginal edges 20 and 22 thereof,

as clearly shown in Fig. 5 and for reasons hereinafter more fully described.

These edges l6 and 20 of leg I2 and edges l8 and 22 of leg It respectively converge as the free ends of these legs are approached. That portion of body It opposite to less i2 and I4 and extending beyond the transverse median line thereof, is substantially triangular and one an le or point thereof terminates approximately on the longitudinal median line of said body l0.

After body It) is formed in the manner above described, the next step in the production of the shoulder pad consists of folding the same along its longitudinal median line to the position shown in Fig. 4. Body I ll, therefore, comprises a pair of symmetrical sections 24 and 26, which when folded to the condition shown in Fig. 4, have all stitching as at 38.

the marginal edges thereof in register and in overlapping relation, This step also embodies the stitching of edges l6 and I8 of legs l2 and M, as at 28, in spaced relation from the extremities of such edges.

The body It! is then again opened by parting sections 24 and 26 to a position where the same is substantially dish-shaped and stitching 28 appears on the innermost face of body l0. A filler 30 is then placed upon this inner face of body H] at one side of its median transverse line, which filler 30 is of such size as to cover substantially half of body ID. This filler 30 is preferably made from a soft cotton fiber, however, any material may be used which will present a cushion padding commonly used in articles of this character.

The pattern from which body If] is formed has a pair of opposed indicating lines to guide the operator in the initial step of cutting a pair of inwardly projecting slits 32 from the marginal edge of body l and substantially on the median transverse line of body I0. These slits indicate to the operator a point at which the necessary fold in body If! shall be made. The operator simply grasps the body Ii! at these points 32 and folds the same along its median transverse line to a point where the marginal edges 34 and 36 thereof are in register and in overlapping relation with edges 20 and 22 respectively. The final stitching with cushion filler 30 encased within body ll then embodies but one operation, namely, closing the same by applying stitches 33. This stitching 38 is along only two sides of the completed article and extends along two edges of the filler 30. In addition to the particular curvature of edgeslfi and I8, it is important that these edges be cut on the bias to present the arcuate shape of the shoulder pad as shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive. The initial arching along the lowermost face thereof as at 38' and the arched condition of the normally uppermost face of the pad at 40, readily lend the same to conformation to the peculiar shape of the shoulders of a designated wearer thereof.

The manner of mounting the finished shoulder pad to a dress or the like is preferably through tacking the same at the three corners 42, 44 and 46 of the triangular shaped pad, rather than to use a continuous peripheral stitching, as is occasionally done in this field.

It is apparent, therefore, that after body l0 and shoulder 30 are preformed as above described, only two steps are necessary to complete the assemblage of a shoulder pad. These steps comprise first, folding and applying stitching 28 and second, inserting pad 30, folding body I0 and Since shoulder pads of conventional character ordinarily require at least three steps and oftentimes five or more, it is readily appreciated that the initial cost of manufacture of the herein described article will be cut in half, if not even more cheaply manufactured. Manifestly shoulder pads may be made having similar forms and characteristics and embodying slight modifications in steps of making without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A shoulder pad of the kind described, comprising a hollow body formed from an initially fiat sheet of material; a cushion filler disposed within said hollow body, said body having a pair of superimposed facing sections provided with overlapping marginal edges extending from the filler along two edges thereof; and means for joining said marginal edges of the sections to present a closed container for the cushion filler, said facing sections of the body being substantially symmetrical and each having a laterally extending leg, the marginal edges of each leg converging as the free end thereof is approached, the innermost, registered marginal edges of the legs being curved inwardly toward the opposite edges thereof respectively and on a bias to produce a self-sustaining arcuate body capable of conforming to the contour of the shoulder of the wearer when the pad is assembled.

2. The method of making a shoulder pad comprising the steps of cutting a substantially U- shaped body from an initially flat sheet of material; folding the body along its median longitudinal line to present a pair of superimposed facing sections; stitching the sections together along the registering innermost marginal edges of the legs of said body; parting the sections of the body to form a substantially dish-shaped member; positioning a cushion filler in substantially half of the said member at one side of its median transverse line; folding the body along said substantially median transverse line to encase the cushion filler, and stitching along the free overlapping marginal edges of the body so formed.

EVELYN P. ENDECOTT.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Gershen July 2, 1946 Number 

